The role of plastic recycling in the UK’s circular economy

Waste plastics have been one of the media’s most reported topics over the last 12 months – with a big focus having emerged on their production, supply chain management and environmental impact. But what role does the recycling of this material play in helping the UK to achieve a circular economy?

Our commercial director Steve Kinley recently shared his thoughts with Recycling Product News…

The current landscape

Over the last couple of years, the spotlight has truly been shone upon this global commodity, with documentaries such as David Attenborough’s Blue Planet highlighting the effect plastic pollution is having on our oceans and marine ecosystem. And it is programmes such as these which have heightened public awareness about the challenges facing both the country’s waste and recycling sector and the earth as a whole.

However, while in the blink of an eye we see mountains of plastic waste clogging up the globe’s oceans and piling up in landfill sites, in another we see it as the ‘saviour of the people’ – being used within the personal protective equipment that is keeping the world’s frontline workers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This mixed messaging is rather contradictory, so where does this leave the material in question, on the spectrum of ‘good versus bad’?

A worldwide issue

While plastic was arguably the innovation of the twentieth century, it is now the global challenge of the twenty-first.

Now more than at any time in our past, we, as a nation, are aware of our need to recycle waste effectively, to protect our planet – as well as significantly reduce the damage we have already inflicted on it so far through waste plastic pollution.

This is where effective recycling comes into the equation.

For many years, developed economies have been shipping the UK’s waste to underdeveloped countries for significant financial gains. While this exportation of waste has previously been labelled as ‘recycling’, it is not. This method is merely ‘moving the problem’ to another destination and it needs to stop if a circular economy is ever going to be a reachable reality for the UK.

When we look at the Waste Hierarchy, for example, prevention and reuse must be prioritised, but where this is not possible, recycling is the next preferred route. Yet, while awareness is the first step in making plastics a globally considered issue, taking a real, multi-pronged approach is when we can truly start on the road to a closed-loop recovery.

Sector innovation plays a crucial part

In simple terms, the definition of a circular economy is one which aims to eliminate waste and promotes the continual use of resources.

Therefore, to make plastics more circular by their nature, they first need to be designed with recyclability and disassembly in mind, at the very start of their lifecycle. It is this, as well as the phasing out of polymers and additives that are not able to be recovered, that will in turn make plastics more sustainable.

Plastics should be created with a cradle-to grave philosophy, which ensures the value remains in the product while in use, during reuse and/or after recycling has taken place.

Unfortunately, in today’s current climate, the UK’s infrastructure is held back by a poor, decentralised, post-use segregation and separation system. This means that the economic value of a great degree of plastic does not exist.

And it is this ‘throwaway’ mentality which leads to the exportation of this commodity. But, by shipping plastics overseas, we are losing two thirds of the resource opportunity they would otherwise generate here in the UK. This does not make sense.

However, it’s worth highlighting that there is regular innovation taking place within the industry, as more companies want to help our country embrace plastics.

For instance, packaging markers which can be applied to different products – similar to barcodes – are currently undergoing testing. These can be read at recycling centres and allow the data to be reported back to the manufacturer – allowing them to track and prove what percentage of their products have been recycled. And it is technology such as this which will allow the country’s circular recycling efforts to become more traceable and quantifiable, affording more visible and tangible results.

Policy on a wider scale

There’s also no doubting that intervention from the Government needs to happen, to help make a circular economy possible. They need to ensure we stick to recovery targets, integrate recycling into the law, offer tax breaks for companies taking action, plus provide financial support for the development and adoption of innovative technologies in this field.

In addition, implementing wider societal measures such as deposit returns schemes for single-use items and driving more organisations to bear end-to-end recovery costs, are vital in generating greater respect for the resource potential of this commodity. It is only when this awareness and cooperation is there that a circular, and less linear, attitude can start to emerge.

A change in mindset to stimulate a circular economy

When it comes to what role plastic plays in achieving a circular economy, the answer is an important one.

By viewing plastic as an ‘opportunity’ as opposed to a ‘nuisance’, we are able to facilitate the movement towards a more cyclical model. And eradicating the exportation of our waste is a key step in achieving this.

When we are processing and recycle these waste streams here in the UK, we are preserving the value of the commodity within the nation’s economy, instead of sending it overseas for someone else to extract and benefit from.

But, given the demand for this material is increasing, there also has to be collaboration from all areas within the value chain to make any chance of a closed loop system feasible. Otherwise, if plastic recycling continues to be carried out in disjointed silos, we will never be able to standardise the country’s waste collections, reduce the amount send to landfill, or improve overall sustainability.